


Broken but Not Unfixable (Jareth x OC)

by BlairAGreer



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Caffeine Addiction, Developing Relationship, Eating Disorders, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Original Character(s), POV Original Female Character, Past Abuse, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Physical Abuse, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:35:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28612938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlairAGreer/pseuds/BlairAGreer
Summary: Jareth has never truly gotten over Sarah Williams. Now that she has passed on, he has lost what little connection that he thought he had to his beloved. Or so he thought.The adventures of one Ailith Murdina Blair De-na-Feannagan as the great-granddaughted of Sarah Williams. Will she be able to walk the same path as her Great-Grandmother? Will she be able to clean up the mess that Sarah left when she spoke those fated words?***** This is going to be a long fic ******This is the first six chapters I have written. I will finish posting them by mid February 2021. Once I have finished posting these I will start posting the following chapters on a different work.The first six chapters are on Deviantart if you want to read the unedited version. Account name - AilithDeNaFeannagan
Relationships: Jareth (Labyrinth)/Original Female Character(s)





	1. Lost and Lonely

**Author's Note:**

> Important Reminders  
> 1\. This is a work in progress, comments speed my effort to add more.  
> 2\. This has no end in sight, so be aware.  
> 3\. If there is words in here that you don't recognize, it is most likely Scotts Gaelic (or French).
> 
> Chapter Notes -  
> Note: The character from the Labyrinth are not my own. But I would love to borrow Jareth for a while. 😊  
> Note 2: Comments help me stay motivated!
> 
> TW - Mild emotional abuse/manipulation
> 
> Deviantart Title - Chapter 1: Lost and Lonely BBNU

_It takes the willingness try again when you have_

_failed in the past if you want to get anywhere._

Blair sat cross-legged under the ancient boughs of an oak tree, flipping through the diary of her great-great- grandmother, Agnes Bridget De-na-Feannagan. Blair had of course never been able to meet her grandfather’s grandmother, nor had she been able to meet her great-grandparents, who had died in a car crash when she was not even a year old. She had found the diary hidden deep in the back of the old, stone oven—far out of the reach of the fire's consuming touch. ‘ _How long had this leather bound tome sat in the dry, dark cavity in the back of the oven’s open maw? It was a small miracle that someone cleaning up the oven hadn't found it and thrown it away._ ’

Although Blair could not recognise or understand the language in which the diary was written, she did enjoy looking at the pictures. Most were hand drawn in the margins of the pages, but some of the images appeared to have been cut out from something and pasted on to the pages. They were strange pictures of small creatures that couldn’t be described as pretty, but Blair thought a lot of them were cute. As Blair flipped through the book she came upon a section of the writing that looked as if the writer had taken great care to copy it out onto the page without any mistakes. She squinted down at the page and attempted to decipher some meaning from the thin, spidery writing.

“Ah ha!” Blair cried as she was able to decipher some of the writing, causing a flock of birds to leave branches of the tree above. “ _Cuimhnich, feumaidh cuimhne a bhith agam_. Now I know that’s Scots Gaelic, but what does it mean? Bah! Can’t remember…”

Blair groaned and leaned back against the trunk. Well, at least she had something to work off of now. It had been nearly two weeks since she, her stepmother, father and three younger half-siblings had moved into the house her father grew up in. It was beautiful alright but it was ancient. The house was the De-na-Feannagan manor. It had been built in 1801, burn down twice to the stone skeleton after being spontaneously struck by lightning. It was said by the locals to be cursed, but what spirit in their right mind would curse a house that was owned by a De-na-Feannagan? They were known to be a fierce clan, one that was often ruthless to those who attacked or sought the harm of their family. Truly, Blair wasn’t a full blooded De-na-Feannagan—well, in the mind of her father she wasn’t. She had gone by her mother’s maiden name, Greer, for as long as she could remember. Blair had always thought that her father loved her and her mum. He always said so. But as soon as Mum had died of TB, Father had become extremely dismissive of her and never mentioned her mother, ever. The only time that Blair had tried to speak of Mum to Father he had slapped her, hard, across the face and yelled that she was never to speak that witch’s name ever in his presence.

“Ailith! AILITH!!” A distinctively female cry came from the direction of the manner, breaking Blair’s concentration. “Ailith Murdina Blair De-na-Feannagan, get your asal up here this instant! Stupid girl, where are you?!”

Only two people ever yelled at Blair like that, her father and her stepmother. Given that the voice was distinctly female Blair would have to say that it was Cora. ‘ _Why did such an infuriating woman have to have such a pretty name? Now a name like Gertrude or even Rebeca would have been more appropriate. But, nooooo! it had to be Cora!_ ’ Cora was the only person who would call Blair ‘Ailith’. Blair liked her name but, the way Cora used her name she used it like a curse word. ‘ _Why take such a beautiful name in such a ugly way?’_ With a heavy sigh, Blair stood up. Slipping the diary into her satchel she began making her way back to the manner.

‘ _Why did Mum have to die? Why did Father have to re-marry? What was the point in marrying a woman like Cora? How did this improve her father? Oh… wait… It didn’t! Ha!_ ’ All these thoughts tumbled around in Blair’s head as she made her way along the road. Enormous trees hugged the shoulder, sheltering the twisting lane from the sun beating down from the heavens. Blair loved being out in the elements any time that she could. The earth beneath her bare toes, the wind singing soft songs in her ear and lifting her hair, the heat of the sun warming her face. When she was little, when Mum was still alive, Blair would play in the rain in her bathing suit, letting the water wash her soul and body clean. Now, if she even walked outside without shoes someone would yell at her that she would catch the death of cold if she didn’t put some trainers on.

“Ailith!” Cora’s call came again, even more annoyed. “You stupid, STUPID girl! Where are you?!”

Blair groaned, loud enough to startle some songbirds from their nest high above in the tree to wheel above the branches highest reach. What was with this infuriating woman?

“I am coming!” Blair hollered in the general direction of the manner, trusting the land echo it back to Cora. “You can stop your screeching.”

Blair was in no rush to the aid of her step mother, whatever it was that she was hollering about could wait. Most likely she just wanted her to watch the baby as she took the two older girls to get their nails done or shopping or something of the like.[1] No one seemed to care what Cora did, and it wasn’t like there was a way for Blair to move in with other family. Mum had been the only child of her family to survive to adulthood and Father was an only child. If she tried to run away someone would find her bring back to the family, which given the chance, would rather not be with. The twins were spoiled rotten and the baby cried much too much.

Walking into the shadow cast by the ancient stone structure sent tingles down Blair spine. There was something about the soul of the building.[2] Walking up the steps, slightly faster than normal because the stone was cold beneath the soles of her feet. Pushing open the heavy pine doors, she found Cora and the twins in their outing attire and the babe on Cora’s hip, sniveling.

No matter how much she disliked her family, Blair could not simply run away, running away didn’t solve the problems she fled from nor the ones that would arise in the wake of her departure. No, Blair would stay because there was no way that she could leave.

“Where have you been?! You— You—” Cora was spluttering with anger by now, turning burning eyes to her step-daughter.

“Asal?” Blair asked, a single eyebrow raised at her step-mother. “You _asal_? I could the say same to you. What is so important that you need me now?”

“Shut your mouth, _nighean_ ,” Cora snapped at Blair. “You are to watch Rory, and make sure that he gets to bed at a reasonable hour. The girls are going to an overnight party with their friends. Your father and I are going to a dinner party at the O’Neil’s and will most likely not be home till the wee hours. So you will have to feed yourselves, understood?”

“Understood, _seann bhoireannach_ ,” Blair smirked at the interesting shade of red her step-mother’s face turned at the implication that she was an old woman. “I’ll watch the boy, hope you and Pa get drunk and make fools of yourselves.”

The look of pure and unfettered rage that contorted Cora’s usually pretty face was well worth the slap across the face that she received. Blair tilted her head back and cackled, the twins shrunk behind their mother, frightened in that moment of their step-sister and her ability to laugh in the face of punishment and physical abuse. Cora’s face turned an even deeper shade of indigent red, if that was even possible.

“You—” Cora spluttered in rage. “You’re grounded, young lady! To your room!”

With a self satisfied smirk, Blair deftly snatched Rory from the woman’s arms and made her way through the hall and towards the main staircase that led to the second floor, passing her father along the way. There was no sense in having to come back down stairs to get the child. Father gave her a disappointed look and shook his head, he was quite obviously trying to guilt-trip her into apologizing to Cora, but Blair had learned his tricks and she would not sacrifice her pride in apologizing to the insufferable woman.

“Hamish, what am I going to do with her?” Cora sighed to her husband as Blair made her way upstairs. “She doesn’t listen to me and shows me no respect!”

“Maybe if you gave me a reason to respect you,” Blair called from her position on the stairs. “I would.”

Blair didn’t stick around to hear what her step mother had to say about her last comment, most likely something scathing, quelle surprise. The woman was to easy to make angry, and now Blair was stuck watching Rory… No one to keep her company, another of her many lonely nights.

* * *

In the castle beyond the Goblin City, a very grumpy Goblin King lounged across his throne. ‘ _How long had it been since Sarah Williams had run the Labyrinth? Well, long enough that she no longer graced the Above with her presence… He had attended her funeral, what? Ten? Fifteen years ago? She had married and had a brood of her own and now they were spread the world over, as were her grandchildren. He would never be able to forget those hauntingly beautiful moss-green eyes and her wonderfully warm, loving smile that had never been turned, sadly, to him. Without her he was lost, a compass with no idea which direction was north._ ’ Sarah had married a young man by the name of Ross De-na-Feannagan and lived to the age of sixty-three when she unfortunately died in a car accident, that had killed her and her husband. She had given the man six children, four girls and two boys. The youngest daughter’s son, Hamish De-na-Feannagan, now resided due north Black Isle Cromarty, Scotland with his second wife and children. The oldest of whom had caught his eye. She was Sarah’s grand-daughter yet the girl shared very little physical traits with the woman, but her situation is very similar to that of his Precious when she had wished away Toby.

Blair was just as strong minded and stubborn as Sarah had been at fifteen, but she thought about what she said before she said it, often using words as if they cost money. Unless of course, she was singing, then they wouldn’t stop coming. She shared more of her physical features with the De-na-Feannagan side of her family, including but not limited to: fiery red hair that she kept in short bop at her chin except for two long thin braids that framed her face no fringe, the slate blue eyes with a ring of silver around the pupil and the ginger skin. Jareth attributed the massive number of freckles to Sarah, they covered Blair arms, legs, face, neck and disappeared into the neckline of the her shirts. Blair shared the same slight frame as Sarah had once had.

Now the Goblin King watched the girl, in one of his crystals, grab her half brother from the older woman’s arms and make her way up the stairs, calling back taunts to her stepmother. She moved her way up to her room and set the boy on the bed. Jareth smiled, ‘ _The girl has some love for her brother, even though she is treated like nothing, she still loves the boy…’_

A spark of hope flickered in the Goblin King’s chest. Maybe she could love him, step up to the task where Sarah had stepped away.

For now, Jareth would step back and watch Blair and see how she would deal with her brother.

* * *

Blair set Rory on the bed in her room and he made a soft coo up at his sister. She smiled down at the little boy. He had found the plush Totoro and was now cuddling with it. Blair couldn’t help but smile down on Rory, he was so cute and the fact that he didn’t share very many physical traits with his mother certainly helped, in her book at least.

“Now, Rory,” Blair’s voice was soft and coaxing. “Wouldn’t you like to make some biscuits with me?”

It was something that Blair loved to do, baking. She did it when ever she was able and her parents were out of the house, which was quite a lot. The twins, Evvy and Una, loved her cooking and often begged Blair to make them things. Even at the age of a little over a year Rory knew that if Blair was offering food to take it. She had made his birthday cake, Rory was a bright lad, even if he couldn’t talk fully he understood a lot more than some would think.

Rory made a sound very close to “ya” and Blair grinned.

“That’s m’ boy,” Blair smiled lovingly down at her little brother. Where the twins annoyed Blair to no end and found it quite enjoyable to make her life hell, Blair couldn’t help but love little red-headed Rory. “But we are going to wait a bit, laddie, ‘cause your parents are still down stares and they would kill me if they found out I was going to be baking!”

Rory looked up at Blair and gave her a wonderful baby smile, wide open mouth showing all his wonderful baby teeth. He reached up and touched Blair’s cheek with one hand, “AH!”

Blair grinned wider and flopped on the bed next to Rory. Catching him up in her arms and holding him to her chest. Rory gave Blair a sloppy, open-mouthed baby kiss, curled up and yawned.

“Maybe you should get a little rest _prìseil_ ,” Blair smiled and kissed the top of Rory’s head, moving a pillow under her own, waiting to hear the tell tale signs that the rest of the family had left.

* * *

“Yes,” The Goblin King spoke to himself, watching the girl hold her little brother. “She will do quite nicely, but how to introduce myself with scaring the living daylights out of her…”

* * *

Once Blair heard the front doors open and shut, she got off the bed leaving Rory there long enough to put a different shirt on and a pair of ballerina slippers. She exchanged the white Drazy Hoops shirt for a plain black shirt. She pulled the two long braids back behind her head and secured them with a couple of bobby pins, so they would be out of the way.

Making sure that Rory was asleep, Blair ran down stairs and then made sure that everyone had left. She checked the twin’s rooms as well as Hamish and Cora’s room, she hated that she couldn’t just start working but if she didn’t she ran the risk of someone still being there, and that would be bad.

Deciding that everyone had left, Blair made her way back up to her room. As she entered she found Rory sitting upright on the bed, attempting to eat Totoro’s ear.

“Now, Rory,” Blair chuckled lifting the child from the bed. “I do not believe that Totoro[3] appreciates being eaten.”

“Ah! AH!” Rory squealed and made a grab for the plushie.

“No, Rory,” Blair chided softly as she set the boy on her hip and the plushie on the bed. “You are not going to eat his ear.”

“YAHH!”

“No.”

“Yahh!”

“No.”

“Ahh?”

“No, we’re going to do some cooking.”

“Ohh…”

Blair carried Rory down stairs and into the kitchen, setting him on the counter she went gather ingredients for shortbread. Deftly carrying back a sack flour, sugar, butter and eggs and setting them on the counter. As soon as Rory saw the eggs he made a dive for them. Blair caught him before the unwieldy child before he fell from the island in his attempt snatch the eggs.

“Now, Rory,” Blair chastised gently. “You’re not aloud to eat the eggs, we need them for the biscuits.”

If it was possible for a child of a little over a year to look put out, that is what his expression was. Chuckling at her half-brother's despondent expression and the fact he was only year, and just barely that. Moving around the kitchen Blair gathered the other need materials and began working, having to keep Rory from sticking his hands in the flour or trying to eat a handful of sugar.

“Oh, bah!” Blair finally lost her cool when Rory finally managed to poor the entire sack of flour on himself. “Now, you’ve done it! I wish I someone, anyone, was here to help me with you! Right now!”

* * *

Far away, in the Goblin Kingdom, Jareth heard the wish made and a plan hatched in the sovereign's head. Now he had a reason to visit the girl.

Turning to Sir Didymus, “You are in charge until I return, do not fail me!”

Sir Didymus nodded, “When will you return, sir?”

“It doesn't matter, I will return.”

“Yes, sir.”

With that, and a swirl of sparkles, the Goblin King was gone.


	2. Babe with the Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Note: Starts to deal with hard topics (relationship abuse). Although there are no specifics… it may be hard for some to read. You have been warned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important Reminders  
> 1\. This is a work in progress, comments speed my effort to add more.  
> 2\. This has no end in sight, so be aware.  
> 3\. If there is words in here that you don't recognize, it is most likely Scotts Gaelic (or French).
> 
> TW - Mentions of relationship abuse and emotional manipulation

_Do not let past hurts stop you from following your heart, be sensible when you being played with, and learn the difference between the two._

* * *

Blair sighed when she saw that she and made the boy cry, at least there wasn’t anything in the oven to worry about. Sticking the dough in the fridge she grabbed a towel and began wiping the tears from the distraught child face.

“ _Prìseil_ , I’m not mad,” Blair’s voice was soft, trying to comfort Rory. “ Just… frustrated.”

Rory looked up at his sister, Blair practically melted. A hand rested on her shoulder and made her jump. Setting Rory on the counter calmly, she turned around and punched the man behind her in the nose.

“OWWW!” the man cried out, clutching his face. “What the hell was that for?!”

The man’s voice had a vaguely British accent but something of it wasn’t quite that. He was tall, but not too. His hair was so blonde it was almost white at the tips, when he pulled his glooved hand away from his face he revealed strangely arching eyebrows, and eyes that did not match, one was sky blue, the other rich and earthy toned. Something about his face clicked with something else in the back of her mind. ‘ _I have seen you before… but where?_ ’

“Why are you in my house?!” Blair yelled back, making sure her body was between this strange man and Rory. ‘ _What could his intentions be? And why did he have to where such devastatingly tight pants?_ ’

It was accurate, he was wearing extremely tight pants, a poets shirt and black riding boots that stopped just before his knees. His hair reminded Blair of an old movie she had watched many, many years ago. The strange makeup was the icing on the cake.

“YOU WISHED FOR HELP, DIDN’T YOU!!!” He yelled at her, Rory started crying and he saw that something in Blair’s eyes hardened. ‘ _Why was he yelling at her? I am only making the situation worse…_ ’

“You are going to stop yelling… right now,” Blair ordered, much to Jareth’s surprise, she scooped up the child and moved to the sink to wash him clean of the flour. After a moment of thought Blair continued. “Yes, I did ask for help, but, to be completely candid, I wasn’t expecting any help to come… Also, if you have come to ‘free me from the burden my home life is,’ no thanks. I may not be happy all the time here, but Rory needs me, make sure he doesn’t get spoiled rotten. Don’t want him turning out how the twins did.”

The man moved to her side picking up a washcloth and wiping a smudge of flour of Blair’s cheek. Smirking when she stopped washing Rory to glare at him.

“What are you doing,” Blair demanded in a harsh whisper, glaring at him, as if she was afraid of Rory hearing and telling someone. Jareth found that rather amusing.

“I’m helping,” the man shrugged. “You didn’t say what I should do, so I am doing as I see fit, helping.”

Blair grumbled to herself, cursing him mentally for being so good with words. ‘ _He was so precise… and helpful… and handsome… Whoooo!_ ’ Blair quickly stopped that train of thought, for it was going to a definitely unwanted station. ‘ _I will not go down that road, even if his very presence is turning my stomach in knots!_ ’

After few minutes of standing at the sink, Blair attempting to focus on washing Rory but being dreadfully distracted by the man standing next her, gently running the washcloth down her arm which was by now completely free of any flour that may or may not have been there. Jareth couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that even though he may not intimidate her, he could still make her squirm. But, finally, the silence that Blair was keeping Jareth decided to attempt break the ice some.

“So, Miss—” Jareth knew her name already, but he didn’t want raise unwanted questions by saying so. “I don’t think I caught you name, Miss.”

Blair tipped her head to give him a sideways look as she set Rory on the counter and wrapped a towel around him.

“You didn’t catch it because,” Blair stated clearly. “I didn’t give it.”

At this, Jareth threw his head laughed, deep and full-throated. ‘ _She’s sharp, this one. I had better be careful_ …’

“Quite right, miss,” he eventually responded after he recovered from his laughter, Blair all the while giving him a strange look. “May I have your name then?”

Blair snorted, “Blair… well, my full name is actually Ailith Murdina Blair De-na-Feannagan, but I go by Blair A. Greer at school and for anything that isn’t legal or medical paperwork. Any of the poems and short stories I publish are under the same alias.”—‘ _Why am I telling him this, I don’t even know his name or how he appeared out of the blue in my kitchen!_ ’—“And your name is…?”

“Jareth, Goblin King,” the man, well Jareth, bowed at the waist, with that infuriatingly smug smirk. He took her right hand between his own and softly kissed the back. Jarenth smirk turned into a grin as he watched Blair squirm, he hadn’t released her hand and was now rubbing gentle circles against her wrist, enjoying watching her face turn interesting shades of red in embarrassment, as well as… enjoyment? The fact that she might enjoy his touch was a major boost to his ego. “Is there… something wrong, precious?”

“No… but could you… er… let go of my hand… please? Jareth?” ‘ _Why won’t he stop? It is becoming increasingly harder to think when he does… that!_ ’

“Hmm?”

“Jareth… Your… Er…”

“Yes, precious?”

“Um… could you, um… let go of my wrist… please?”

Jareth chuckled, letting his hand softly ran his gloved up her arm and slowly stroked the side of the face. ‘ _She seems to enjoy my touch, she has not had the attention she deserves from her father or her step-mother. She should love this…_ ’ Unfortunately, Jareth felt Blair stiffen under his soft touch and when he met her eye Jareth saw that her eyes were hard and there was no like of his touch.

Blair’s flustered feeling had died when Jareth had touched her face, although the touch was gentle and affectionate it had reminded her of how Eric had once touched her. Eric… Now there was someone Blair never wanted to remember.

Eric had been a complete and utter jackass. After dating him for about two months, Blair found out that he had been double dating with at least three other girls. Well—that she knew of—there could have been many, many more and she could have never known. In the end, her father and step-mother had attempted to force her to stay with Eric because he was the favorite son of Hamish’s boss. If Blair would have stayed with Eric Blair’s father would have been given a **MASSIVE** raise and, to be quite honest, it would have been an unneeded boost to Hamish’s ego. But Blair had no interest in staying with a guy who had cheated on her with three other women. Cora had never forgiven her for leaving Eric and made a point of asking Blair how he was doing or asking when they would Blair and Eric would get back together. Eric had been the only person to ever touch Blair in such a way, but only at the beginning. That was a memory that was best forgotten.

“Let go of me,” it was practically an inhuman growl. “Now!” — ‘ _I can not let myself fall for that trick. I will not allow myself to be hurt in such a way again, ever._ ’

Jareth took a step back. Blair had completely forgotten about Rory, but thankfully he was simply watching the exchange with an expression of confusion. “What have I done, precious? What can I do?” Jareth wasn’t sure why he was begging. He was king, kings shouldn’t beg, but something about being around Blair made him want to be the best person he could, as well as flirt and intimidate her. Unfortunately for him, it had been proven quite clearly that Blair could not be intimidated, if she had been intimidated she had never let on and disguised it amazingly well.

In all the truth that there is in this instance, it should be said that at one point in time, not so long ago, Blair had been a very trusting person. Up until her experience with her Eric — Blair was often much too trusting, easily intimidated, and often clung to Eric in the first few weeks of their relationship, wanting someone to protect her from the terrors of the world around her. But that simple innocence was crushed under the heel of Eric’s shoe, as he took advantage of the fact that Blair loved him and wanted to be with him. Before the relationship had ended, Blair had become self harming, all because she wanted to be what Eric wanted. Once she found out about Eric double dating Blair began to realize that she wasn’t being true to herself. After Eric was gone out her life, Blair began picking up the broken piece that he a scattered to the floor. Making sure to remember to love herself, not letting anyone tell her that she wasn’t what she was supposed to be. There was only time that Eric attempted to come back, he said that he had left the other girls and all he wanted was Blair. She had heard him out, but as soon as Eric had finished speaking his piece Blair calmly, without a word, punched Eric in the face and closing the door. An effective break up line, no?

All these painful memories passed through Blair’s mind in a matter of seconds, all the while Jareth watching her with intense concern. He attempted to take her hands in his own but she moved them away before he could touch her.

“Blair, please, I want help,” Jareth was soft, coaxing. “If you don’t tell me what I have done wrong I can’t help you…” ‘ _I wish to help you, Precious, but when you push me away all it does is hurt us both more_.’

Blair sighed softly through her nose and gave Jareth a small smile, she hadn’t realized how much it still hurt to think of Eric, even though he had hurt her so much. “You’ve haven’t done anything truly wrong,”—‘ _not yet anyway_ ,’—“and as for what you can do to help…” Blair looked around the kitchen, making sure that there wasn’t anything that wouldn’t catch fire or explode if she was gone for an hour or two. “Grab Rory, he needs to be fed, bathed and put to bed. Then I need to bake the biscuits, clean up the kitchen, and make sure that looks like I didn’t. Pa and Cora won’t be back till the ‘wee hours of the morning’, so that gives me plenty of time…”

‘ _She has completely forgotten about me,_ ’ Jareth though with a sigh. ‘ _The girl has much to much to deal with at her age…_ ’ “Sar—, Er, Blair are you expecting me to do all this?” Jareth couldn’t help but chuckle when she gave him a mildly surprised look, as if to say Your still here? It made him feel a bit better for almost calling her Sarah.

“Oh! No, just reminding myself what I needed to do,” Blair clarified, smothering the embarrassment she felt for completely forgetting the fact that he existed, but did note that he had almost called her someone else’s name, she would have to ask him about that later. “If you could grab the loaf of wholemeal bread off the counter and the peanut butter from the pantry that would be greatly appreciated.”

‘Why does he have to be so… cute?!’ Blair thought to herself as she set Rory in his high-chair and got a plastic plate from cabinet. ‘ _I don’t want to end up in the same situation I was with Eric. How do I know that I can trust him? He just turned up out of nowhere, and I punched him. Admittedly, I do feel bad for punching him, but he just scared me. Then he tells me he the “Goblin King,” am I really to believe that? Or is it just his way of making me feel inferior? Well if it is, I will not let it affect me—_ ’

“Blair—”

“Ah!” The light touch of a hand on her shoulder and the voice by her ear made her jump and cry out, nearly squashing Jareth’s foot when she landed. Placing a hand against her quickly beating heart, she turned to look up at Jareth only realizing to late that it put them practically chest-to-chest, their faces inches apart. “Erm… you, um, scared me…”

Looking down into Blair softly shaded pink and flustered face, Jareth fought the urge to smother the girl—woman he corrected himself—in a heavy, hot kiss. That thought lead to others in a rapidly deteriorating path, and Jareth had to avert his gaze lest Blair catch onto his true feeling for her too soon, his own face taking on the ever-so-slightest blush. “The bread and peanut butter you asked for…”

Blair blushed even brighter, realising he had simply done what she had asked.

“Oh… Oh! Thank you,” Blair looked down at loaf and jar he had put into her hands. “But I need a knife though… You know, to spread the peanut butter…?”

“Yes, precious, I know…” Jareth’s voice trailed off and the two were stuck staring at each other, neither wanting to look away, conceding what had unwittingly become a battle of wills. It went on like this for several moments before the two were finally made to recognise the rest of the world when Rory started pulling Jareth’s hair.

“OWW!” Jareth grabbed the child’s wrist and attempted to untangle the pudgy fingers from his hair. “OW! Ow! Ow! Child let go of me!” Rory had managed to climb out of the high-chair and was now standing on the table with a fistful of Jareth’s blonde hair in his hand.

Blair couldn’t help but giggle a bit as she made both Rory and Jareth sit down, Jareth on the chair beside table and Rory on the tabletop itself. Blair gently slipped her fingers into Jareth’s hair, untangling Rory’s fingers from the feathery strands. After she had removed Rory’s hands from Jareth’s hair, Blair couldn’t seem to bring herself remove her own fingers from his hair. It was so soft!

Jareth leaned back and allowed Blair run her fingers through his hair. It felt wonderful, ‘ _How long had it been since he had felt so wonderful because of such a simple touch? I mustn’t say anything lest she stop because of her own embarrassment.’_ Jareth tipped his head back, coaxing Blair down into his lap. She was a thought away from sitting if hadn’t been for Rory accidentally knocking the peanut butter jar from the edge of the table and it crashing to the floor with the sound of shattering glass. Jareth cursed mentally, ‘ _Damn child! Why did he have to interrupt when I was that close to being able to kiss her!_ ’

“Rory!” Blair’s voice was full of annoyance, she had turned her body to face the child, but still one hand in Jareth’s hair. “What did you do this time?”

The exasperation in Blair’s voice was almost physically tangible, both of the males in the room could sense it and neither were particularly looking to have it turned towards them. Blair slipped her hand from Jareth’s hair and took a step back from the table, her arms were folded over chest and the was tapping the toe of her ballerina slipper against the floor, glaring the two males down.

Jareth spoke first, being the only one capable of understandable speech, “Don’t give me that look, I’m not the one who knocked it off the table!” Even to himself his voice sounded whiney, and Jareth cringed inwardly. He cringed even harder, to the point that it was visible, when Blair gave him a look that clearly stated, “ _And if you, highness, hadn’t distracted me it wouldn’t have happened_.”

“Would you be so kind as to fetch me a dustpan and broom?” it was an order not a request, her voice was sickly sweet and dripping, the calm before the storm. Jareth realized then why she was often pushed to the edge of the pack, she didn’t need anyone to look after her, she looked after herself and she was not the kind of personality that was often accepted by those who called themselves “popular”. She was strong willed and intelligent, with a little bitty-bit inside her that wouldn’t melt and flow.

Jareth looked down at Blair indignantly, he had risen from the chair and was now attempting to use his height as an advantage in his attempt to intimidate Blair into submission, “I am a king you know! And I am at least three centuries older than you, you should show more respect!”

Blair tilted her head imperiously, “This is my home, you’re here by my leave. I show you the respect you’re do, as you in turn will respect me.”—Jareth was quite shocked by her spine, not expecting her to contradict him. But, unfortunately for him, she was right.—“Now, if that is all you have to say, please go and get what I have asked for.”

Jareth looked at her for a moment before creating a crystal in the palm of his hand. He met Blair’s wide eyes and tossed the crystal over his shoulder, never letting his eyes move from hers. Blair was just about to yell at Jareth for making a bigger mess when she actually looked at what had happened. The mess was gone and sitting were the broken jar had been was a perfectly whole jar of peanut butter.

“H–how did you do that!” for the first time in the short time Blair had known Jareth actually impressed her and really scared her. “That was bloody AMAZING!”

Jareth chuckled and allowed his gloved hand to trail up the side off Blair’s face, making the girls shiver and nearly melt under his touch. Jareth only let this go on for a few moments before he reluctantly retracted his hand.

“I will tell you how I did it after we have taken care of the little one so that he doesn’t cause any more trouble,” Jareth smiled down at Blair, gently encouraging her to do what she need to do. “Now, let us get moving so that we can have… a little chat.” 

Blair moved around the kitchen in a daze, making Rory his dinner, cleaning what needed to be cleaned, and once Rory was done eating, she cleaned him up. Blair carried Rory to his room, Jareth following a few paces behind her, smirking. ‘ _If just showing off the small amount of magic that he had used to clean up the jar of peanut butter had impressed her, then maybe it wouldn’t be as hard as I had thought to make her his._ ’

“It’s only seven thirty,” Blair muttered to herself as she tucked a sleepy Rory into bed. “Not bad, one less thing that the old hag can yell at me about.”—turning to Jareth—“It’ll be about another fifteen to twenty minutes before he falls asleep, but I’ll have to make myself something to eat after he’s asleep.”

Jareth nodded with a smile, “We can talk over you meal.”—‘ _This is going to be fun._ ’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to give you fair warning as to what will be revealed…
> 
> This chapter introduces the character of Eric, a previous and abusive boyfriend of Blair. He will come back further in the story. Although there are no graphic details of their past relationship, it does begin to mention anorexia, abuse, and a brief mention to cutting or other self-harm.

**Author's Note:**

> Footnotes:
> 
> [1] It was not uncommon for Cora to spoil her daughters and completely ignore Blair. In all fairness, it was probably a kindness that Cora ignored Blair, for had she paid her any attention it only would have been to criticize and tear down the girl’s esteem.
> 
> [2] You may be asking yourself, what are talking about? Buildings that have stood for years upon years do have a soul you just have to look for it, but you only see it if you are willing to look.
> 
> [3] For those who don’t know, Totoro is a nature spirit that was featured in the Japanese film My Neighbor Totoro by Studio Ghibli, not my own character!
> 
> Important Reminders  
> 1\. This is a work in progress, comments speed my effort to add more.  
> 2\. This has no end in sight, so be aware.  
> 3\. If there is words in here that you don't recognize, it is most likely Scotts Gaelic (or French).  
> 4\. I will post TW at the top of any chapters that they apply too.  
> 5\. I will update tags as necessary (I may up the rating from "Teen and Up" to "Mature" because of future content but I haven't decided yet.


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